Frankfurter and His Mommy

Gunner James

I am Angela Walters. Hello and welcome to my blog! I am a Christian, card making, wiener dog loving lady. I started this blog in 2009 to share the cards I have made and my wonderful wiener dog, Frankfurter, with all of you. Although my dear Frank passed away in May of 2017, this blog continues as a way to honor him and all of the joy he brought into the world!

In September of 2017, I adopted another wiener dog, Gunner James. Gunner is not a replacement for Frank because no one could ever replace my amazing Frankfurter. Instead, my heart simply grew as I fell in love with another sweet Dachshund. I am thankful and blessed to have another sweet boy to share with all of you, along with my cards, on this blog.

My life will always be better because of the time I spent with my wiener dog, Frankfurter Walters. I was blessed to be his Mommy from June 30, 2001 until he passed away on May 21, 20017. He will forever be loved and missed.

Monday, June 6, 2016

Hello, Friends!

Hello, Friends!

Remember me? It's been a long time, huh? Not because I wanted it to be, that's for sure. After my card making spree one Sunday night in February, I was hoping that I'd be stamping like that all the time in the near future.

Unfortunately, I am the perfect example of "the spirit is willing but the flesh just won't do what I want it to do." In my head there are thousands of cards waiting to be stamped, die cut, Copic colored, Zig Marker watercolored, embossed, tied with ribbon or twine, and that have a couple of buttons thrown on for good luck. (Remember I said thousands of cards. One card with all of that might be a little over the top!)

So here's a health update. Spinal fusion surgery has come and gone over a year ago now. Two knee surgeries have come and gone as well. I pretty much had to lay in bed after each knee surgery until that knee was healed because I couldn't walk "right" and walking wrong made my back worse immediately. That ended up with me being in bed for about 6 months. Trying to come back from that is hard! The first time I went downstairs in our house and then came back up a couple hours later was one of the hardest things I have ever done. It doesn't sound hard, but it wore me out so much, I laid down in my bed, shut my eyes and instantly fell asleep- no exaggeration!

As hard as it was, I kept doing it. At first, I could only do it every other day. I would go downstairs one day and be so tired, I would have to recover the next day. It's been a lot of work, but I can now go downstairs everyday. This past Saturday, I even did it twice in the same day! Trust me, this was monumental! When I get downstairs, I can only sit or lay down on the couch right now, but I am trying to build up my stamina. With time, I pray that I will get to be more and more active while I am down there.

This leads me to another monumental moment that happened on Saturday.

I made a card all by myself!

It is very clean and simple. I painted a watercolor wash with my Zig Markers and aqua brushes on watercolor paper, put a cover plate die cut on top of it and added some sequins for an embellishment. I know that's not much but the main point is that I did it myself! My poor parents didn't have to go get any supplies for me! That's how I ended up going up and down the stairs twice on Saturday. I had to get my Zigs that were in my bedroom. I also had to get watercolor paper and card stock, the die, cut the paper, run it through the Big Shot and then make the card. I know to those of you who can do anything you want any time you want, this doesn't sound like much, but for me it was a very big deal!!

So where is this masterpiece that I was going to enter into two challenges like the good old days?

Well, by the time I was done, I was way too tired to take a picture. I had hoped I would have the energy to take it today (Sunday). After the stairs and getting up and down on Saturday and then not sleeping on Saturday night because of the pain, I was too tired to take a picture today, too! I went downstairs but I was just too exhausted from the day before. You know you're worn out when you're too tired to take a picture and load it in the computer! But, just like the first time I went downstairs, I will keep pushing it until I get to the point that I can make a card and take a picture of it within 24 hours!

Because the pain in my back has never improved, even after surgery and even after fixing both of my knees, we continue to pray that as I build my muscles back up this will finally help my back. Eventually, I will do water therapy, but I have a long way to go before I can get there. Right now, by the time I got to the pool, I'd be way too tired to do the exercises, not to mention getting back in the house!

Stamping will actually help build my muscles as I sit, use my arms, and get up and down a few times for more supplies. I have lots of stamps that I have continued to collect over the three years that I have been fighting with my back that are just begging to be inked up! I've been blessed to get stamping gifts to encourage me to keep going during all of this. I have stamps that were brand new to the market when I got them that would be considered old now because they've had to wait so long! When I can really stamp and post again, you'll see a wide variety of stamp companies and years represented. I'm a little worried to see if I remember how to use my Copics because it's been 10 months since the last time I used them. One of these days, my back will cooperate and I'll find out.

Now I know what you all are thinking!

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. What about Frank???"

Frank will be 15 on June 30th. He's suffering from some of the effects of being a "little old man dog" but he is still our sweet, smart, funny little wiener dog. I'll share some pictures of him, too, so you can see his white face and white feet. He's no longer just a red dog, but now is definitely a red and white dog!

This has been an incredibly rough time for lots of different reasons but I continue to try and be hopeful and positive. Being wrong about the people that you thought would be there if something like this ever happened has been 100 times worse than dealing with the physical pain I continue to be in every day. Some days I fail miserably and think about all the negatives in this situation, but most of the time I can keep my head up and keep moving forward.

Hopefully, I will have cards and pictures of cards for you to see soon. I missed both challenges I made my card for, so I will take time to recover and maybe even get to make another card to share with you! I have learned that there's a fine line between pushing too much and getting too tired and ending up sick vs. pushing the right amount and building back up. I'm right at the almost too tired amount after going downstairs again today. I wanted to go ahead and say, "Hello" even though I didn't have a card to share, though.

Please continue to keep me in your prayers. Building back up is so hard but it will all be worth it as I can get little tiny parts of my old life back.

3 comments:

I'm sorry that your back continues to give you so much pain, Angela, even with all the surgeries. Getting things moving is going to make a difference with everything from internal organs to a healthy skin so I applaud you and encourage you with your goal to MAKE yourself go up and down the stairs every day ... and eventually out the door and around the block! It's going to take time, but what's the saying about every journey starting with one little step? You can do it and then your spirit will thrive. It's like a circle of physical and mental health all the way around once you get things moving every day! Can't wait to see the picture of your card and of Frankie! Keep up the good work! Hugs, Darnell

Oh Angela, that is so great that you did so much and made a card. Plus, all the ideas for cards running around in your brain - you gotta keep that active too! It was so fun to see your post this morning. Darnell gave you some good advice too.

I wonder if Hair Care for Men would work on Frankie? But, at his age and being the man of the house (no offense to your dad) he deserves a little white fur!

Hugs to you and your family. You know I have thinking of you!

Chris

P.S. Susan Itell has a card of mine on her blog today we did for a swap if you want to check it out.

So good to get an update and to hear that you are getting better little by little. I know it's not as quick as you would like. Keep going and you will get there someday soon. I will keep you in my prayers for complete healing of your back and knees and to get your stamina back.

Reverse Confetti Dreamcatcher

Watercolor May Flower

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Teacher's Pet

Hugs from my Heart

Reverse Confetti Dreamcatcher

You're #1 In My Book

Donut Know What I'd Do

Milk and Cookies

Santa Paws with Chilly Chums

Santa Paws with Chilly Chums

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Furry Christmas

For directions, search "Every Little Bit"

What's more special than Frank pictures?

I hope you are enjoying my cards and pictures. Please feel free to direct others to my blog to see my creations. If I have inspired you, please give me credit and do not post my creations as your own. If you do and I find out, Gunner will come to your house and bite you. :)